ATLANTA — Maybe, just maybe, the NFL is ready to complete its transition of elite-tier quarterbacks.

Not that Peyton Manning should be harshly judged because he had one unfortunate performance after a missed season with four neck injuries.

But does anyone else see a young Manning in Matt Ryan?

A more mobile Peyton? Ryan was Joe Montana-like cool, Manning-like accurate and Manning-like intelligent in leading the Atlanta Falcons, who defeated the Broncos and error-plagued Manning, 27-21, on Monday night before a raucous sellout crowd at the Georgia Dome.

Manning threw three interceptions on the Broncos' first three possessions and Denver was unable to recover.

"Anytime you go on the road and you throw three interceptions to put your team in a hole, to put our defense in a hole, and give Atlanta great field position, it's disappointing," Manning said. "Just got to protect the ball batter. ... No excuses for me. Poor decisions, I threw the ball into coverage. We battled back and had a chance, but in the end I put our team into too big of a hole."

Ryan is beginning his fifth NFL season. He threw his 100th career touchdown pass in the third quarter. Manning is in his 15th season. Last week, he threw his 400th touchdown pass.

Ryan was way above the grading curve in his first four regular seasons but the postseason has been his albatross. He and the Falcons have lost three consecutive playoff games.

Funny, when Manning was with the Indianapolis Colts, he started 0-3 in the postseason too. In the game Monday night, up-and-coming Ryan clearly outplayed the iconic Manning, whose three interceptions were all on throws over the middle.

Denver rallied in the fourth quarter, but never got the ball back with a chance to tie as the Falcons ran out the clock after the Broncos pulled to within six.

The Broncos had four turnovers in their first five possessions.

Broncos coach John Fox talks with the referees. More photos. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

"A little too much to overcome," said Broncos coach John Fox.

Hurt early when his nervous receivers made crucial drops, Ryan efficiently led the Falcons to touchdowns on his last possession of the first half and second drive in the second half.

"I played with him his first year and you knew right away that Matt Ryan gets it," said Broncos linebacker Keith Brooking. "They've done a real good job of getting weapons around him and building that offense around him."

Manning, meanwhile, had one of those games. What, you thought he would dominate every game after missing all of last season? Comebacks are never easy in the NFL.

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, left, leaves the field as Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon celebrates a defensive stop in the third quarter Monday at the Georgia Dome. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

For only the second time in his career, Manning threw three interceptions in the first quarter. The other time was during a torrential downpour in San Diego, where on Nov. 11, 2007, he wound up throwing a career-most six picks.

Still, Manning would have led the Colts to victory in that game if not for a missed short field goal in the final seconds by Adam Vinatieri.

When Manning in this game led the Broncos on an 80-yard touchdown drive to end the first half, narrowing the Falcons lead to 20-7, there seemed to be a chance the quarterback's ugly start could be overcome. But the Broncos went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half — a 1-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas and two incompletes — while Ryan combined with Roddy White to smartly execute a 74-yard scoring drive that put Atlanta up 27-7. Manning then led the Broncos on a long scoring drive to make it 27-14 with 11:48 left in the game on Willis McGahee's 2-yard run. McGahee added a late scoring run for the final score.

Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas makes a touchdown catch at the edge of the end zone in the first half against Atlanta. More photos. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Wide receiver Brandon Stokley said the offense "is a continuous work in progress. It's something we're going to have to keep working at, the entire season."

Broncos safety Mike Adams said Manning will rebound. "He's going to be all right." Adams said. "I've seen him have games like that before, and he still came back and won them. One more quarter and we win this one."

It was a tough night for the fiery Fox, too. At wit's end with the replacement officials, Fox is beginning to rival San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh as the top bully to the fill-ins. Fox got a pass interference call reversed and an unsportsmanlike penalty flagged against him that was never marked off. Several penalties were seemingly marked with peculiar yardage.

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Then again, Broncos right tackle Orlando Franklin came away with a hotly contested recovery on a Knowshon Moreno fumble yet the officials awarded Atlanta the ball. During the tussle for the oblong prize, tempers flared and the pushing match wound up with Fox in the middle of it. Fox was in the middle because he had strayed several yards into the field of play.

The Broncos players reflected their coach's spirit. With Manning's play, and his passes, wobbling, McGahee started running the ball with authority. McGahee had 77 yards rushing on just 11 carries at the half.

On defense, Denver gave the Falcons fits despite poor starting field position. There was so much attention paid to Manning's poor play that the Falcons' offensive ineptitude was almost overlooked. The combination of Denver D tenacity and four dropped Falcon passes — two each by Julio Jones (one that would have been a touchdown) and Tony Gonzalez — kept the Broncos in the game.

It was only 10-0 Falcons after the first quarter even though the Broncos committed four turnovers. On the Falcons' lone touchdown, they needed three Michael Turner rushing plays to go 1 yard. Atlanta only had to go 1 yard because on the Broncos' first possession, Manning's pass intended for tight end Jacob Tamme floated and knuckled into the awaiting arms of Atlanta's William Moore.

The safety returned it 33 yards to the 1.

Finally, both offenses got it going with their final possession of the first half. Ryan started going to No. 3 receiver Harry Douglas, who was working on new Broncos' nickel back Tony Carter, while mixing in mid-range completions to Gonzalez and Roddy White. Carter was replacing the injured Chris Harris.

A 1-yard flip to a wide-open Gonzalez in the back of the end zone gave the Falcons a 20-0 lead with 4:39 remaining in the half.

At that point, Manning became methodical. The Broncos huddled up as a way to slow down their heartbeats. A mix of short passes to Eric Decker and McGahee runs brought the Broncos within scoring distance. A great catch by Thomas, who starred here at Georgia Tech, finished the drive.

On third-and-goal from the 17 and just 16 seconds left in the half, Manning threw to the left side of the end zone where Thomas caught it but appeared to be pushed out of bounds with just one foot down. Until the replay. A slow-motion look revealed Thomas was able to drag his right toe off the turf. The right toe represented his second foot down and the Broncos had a touchdown.

The Falcons went into the locker room up 20-7 but the Broncos were confident that they were the team with the momentum.

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